Author: USA Facts News

People seemed to have treated themselves to a cheeky punt or two this week, with Cheltenham Festival taking place from Tuesday (11 March) to Friday (14 March).

It’s a big deal for Brits, with some even choosing to jet over to Spain to avoid the steep prices of drinks at the event.

Everyone becomes a horse racing expert in March (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Many hedged their bets on fan-favourite horse Majborough and were let down after a mistake cost people up and down the country a pretty penny.

However, one of the lucky winners was a man named Tom, who walked away with £55,000 in his pockets after making a small bet of just £5 on one winner.

The Tote bookies were left shell-shocked after the bettor took part in their popular Placebot bet.

His bet included Jango Baie, who put in a performance to remember, going from last-to-first in the Arkle.

The horse’s jockey, Nico de Boinville, said he had given up as they hit 300-1 on the in-running markets.

But after favourite Majborough’s mistake and L’Eau Du Sud running low on steam, Jango Baie made the improbably comeback to take the trophy home.

Tom is living a lot of punter’s dreams (X/@ToteBetting)

Sharing a photo of a till message reading ‘Insufficient funds to pay out. Please contact your manager’, Tote Racing wrote on X: “We’ve been cleaned out at @CheltenhamRaces.”

The festival was not short of other shocks either, as Burdett Road in the Champion Hurdle, who had odds of 66-1, came in second behind winner Golden Ace, who had odds of 25-1 to win.

Favourites Constitution Hill and State Man would fall in the race, leaving many bettors furious.

Tom’s bet was part of the Placepot, a bet where you pick a horse to finish in the places in the first six races.

You don’t have to win either, and if the favourites go crashing out, the dividend from the pool money increases significantly.

If you’re wondering how Tom made a near £55k profit, putting a quid in the Placepot on day one of Cheltenham would have won you £11,050.70 with the right pick.

The American actor, best known for his roles in Dallas Buyers Club and Interstellar, last appeared on-screen in a film in 2019, when he played cannabis mogul Mickey Pearson in The Gentlemen.

McConaughey, who recently spilled the beans on he and acting buddy Woody Harrelson potentially sharing the same dad, has taken a break from on-screen acting in recent years to spend time with family and friends, as well as dedicating some time to writing his memoir.

He spoke at the premiere of his new film The Rivals of Amziah King at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas on 10 March.

As reported by Variety, McConaughey introduced the film at SXSW, saying: “It’s been six years since I did a film or was onscreen?… Why did I come to this film, what was it?

“Not often does something cross my desk where I’m like ‘Oh, that’s an original language! I’ve never heard that before, but I know those people.

The actor attended the premiere of his new film, The Rivals of Amziah King, at the South by Southwest festival in Texas (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

“Oh, that’s an original, time, place and space. Oh, there’s some real humour. There’s some real innocence and a whole lot of heart and [a] momentous amount of spirit.”

The 55-year-old added: “In a place that has do with a carny-Credence like a revival band that plays live shows in Dairy Queen parking lots; whose a beekeeper; love story between a foster parent and a foster child, love story of a whole bunch of misfits and underdogs, that come together, a bunch of hair-lips, knee-scraping people who’ll give the shirt off their back.

“Those are the reasons why I did it. It’s also some kind of musical!”

The Rivals of Amziah King tells the story of a born-again Christian who runs a town’s honey production, while criminal activity threatens his livelihood.

McConaughey alongside Angelina LookingGlass (Heyday Films)

McConaughey plays the titular role of Amziah King, alongside Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse and Angelina LookingGlass.

Reflecting on his return to the acting in an interview with Variety, McConaughey pointed out that he ‘remembered a couple of things’.

He said: “One, how much I truly enjoy performing. Two, I remembered, I am pretty damn good at this. And three, I remembered that acting is a vacation for me, and what I mean by vacation is that when I’m performing, it’s my singular focus.”

The academy award winner’s latest film delighted viewers at the premiere, and earned him a rare standing ovation but interested audiences may have to wait to see it on their screens, with an official release date not yet confirmed.

Excavations took place in the Tinshemet Cave, a newly excavated Middle Paleolithic site in Israel.

Taking to the site, teams wanted to see what they could learn about Homo sapiens from thousands, and thousands, of years ago.

And in publishing their findings in the Nature Human Behaviour journal, scientists have made discoveries that are beginning to reshape our understanding of human history taking back to the Middle Palaeolithic period in the Near East, which includes the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey.

The cave was already known to be rich when it came to archaeological and anthropological finds that could be studied by experts.

Tinshemet Cave in Israel (Yossi Zaidner)

But it was also discovered to include human burials; burials that were the first to be discovered from the Middle Palaeolithic period in more than half a century.

The study, published yesterday (11 March), is revolutionary in that the findings include overwhelming evidence that Neanderthals and people in the region not only coexisted but also shared aspects of daily life, technology, and burial customs.

A species separate related to humans, Neanderthals were humanity’s closest common ancestor until they seemingly died out around 40,000 years ago. Shorter than humans, Neanderthals had broader bodies and shorter limbs.

Lithic artefact from Tinshemet Cave made using technology shared by Homo sapiens and Neanderthals (Marion Prévost)

“These findings underscore the complexity of their interactions and hint at a more intertwined relationship than previously assumed,” the paper writes.

The excavation of Tinshemet Cave was led by Professor Yossi Zaidner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Professor Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, and Dr Marion Prévost of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with the entire process going back to 2017 when it first started in the cave.

A main aim of the research team has been to find out the true nature of human relationships with Neanderthals in the mid-Middle Palaeolithic Levant and whether they rivals, peaceful neighbours, or even worked together.

Concept image of what a Neanderthal looked like (Getty Stock Image)

The research states that working together was very much a thing both species did. It writes: “By integrating data from four key fields – stone tool production, hunting strategies, symbolic behaviour, and social complexity – the study argues that different human groups, including Neanderthals, pre-Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens, engaged in meaningful interactions.

“These exchanges facilitated knowledge transmission and led to the gradual cultural homogenisation of populations.

“The research suggests that these interactions spurred social complexity and behavioural innovations.

“For instance, formal burial customs began to appear around 110,000 years ago in Israel for the first time worldwide, likely as a result of intensified social interactions.”

It adds: “A striking discovery at Tinshemet Cave is the extensive use of mineral pigments, particularly ochre, which may have been used for body decoration. This practice could have served to define social identities and distinctions among groups.”

Prof Zaidner said it showed the region and Israel was a ‘melting pot’ of different human groups that evolved together in sync, working together to ‘drive cultural and technological innovation’.

This may sound like a nailed on way to get yourself fired before even stepping foot on set, but thankfully this risky move ended up working well for former porn actor turned Euphoria star.

Casting an adult actor in a standard TV series may seem a little far-fetched, but this is Euphoria we’re talking about here — a series which shows a unrealistic depiction and highly sexualised of high school students.

Of course, the actor we’re of course talking about is none other than Chloe Cherry, who was asked to audition for the show after creator Sam Levinson discovered her on Instagram.

She would land the role of Faye, drug addict who befriends Fezco (the late Angus Cloud) and Ashtray (Javon Walton) while on the run from the police.

The 27-year-old’s acting debut would unsurprisingly turn the spotlight back to her work as an adult performer, leading fans to discover that she’d previously starred in a porn parody which featured a popular scene involving characters Jules (Hunter Schafer) and Rue (Zendaya).

Obviously the discovery would send fans into a frenzy, with a rumour which stated that Cherry had landed the role after playing the porn parody version of Jules in the video later doing the rounds on the internet.

Chloe Cherry joined Euphoria as Faye in season two (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

Which would be an absolutely wild way to land a role on television, but unfortunately it isn’t true.

Setting the record straight in a 2022 interview with Vulture, Cherry said: “It was funny because I made that probably five months after I was cast on the show.”

Going on to explain how the idea came into fruition, Cherry added that she was studying the show after being cast and thought it was prime content for a pornographic parody.

“I started rewatching and I realised I had already done a lot of adult-movie parodies, and I figured, ‘Oh, that’s the perfect one to do, because it’s a really popular scene’,” she explained.

The actor would celebrate landing the role in a rather unusual way (HBO)

“It’s funny the way people are reacting to it, like ‘She was discovered off a porn parody.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, that was literally just something I made for my OnlyFans forever ago, and now everyone’s finding it’.”

Cherry is currently expected to return in the long awaited final instalment of the series, which is currently in production, with her character being promoted to a series regular, via The Hollywood Reporter.

The news will likely be a welcome one with fans after Cherry had previously cast doubt on whether or not she would be invited back for the third season, telling MailOnline: “I would definitely go back, but they just leave me in the dark, let’s just say that.”

You may have first heard of Thorne through her role on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up in the early 2010s, but the 27-year-old is more known nowadays for the creation of adult content.

The Blended star featured among the top 10 celebrity earners on OnlyFans in 2024, but it turns out that she didn’t join the site for the fun of it.

Thorne made a splash when she joined the site in the summer of 2020, shocking fans around the world as the former child star charged users $20 (£15) per month to subscribe to her X-rated content.

Thorne made a fortune in just one day (Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Financially, it was a wise choice, as the actress made over $1 million (£770,000) in her first day alone, with her first week’s earnings estimated to be around $2 million (£1.5m).

But in a previous article with the LA Times, it seems like the real reason behind her starting the page has been revealed.

It turns out that it was all an experiment, though she did make money from it, starting an OnlyFans also allowed the then 23-year-old to do research for a film she was looking to make with Anora director Sean Baker.

Thorne was only on the platform for a short period of time, asking users a series of questions about the platform and how they used it.

She explained that she wanted to make a movie about a sex worker in the modern world, adding: “It’s a feature we are researching as I’m living it currently. What are the ins and outs?”

The actress claimed that it was part of research for a film (Instagram/bellathorne)

She went on: “What does a platform like this do to its users? What’s the connective material between your life and your life inside the world of OnlyFans? How can it change your life for the worse and the better?

“How far are you willing to go, and how far do you WANT to go? You can be me, or this talented girl from Montana, and OnlyFans could change your life – if you want it to, of course.”

Thorne didn’t post any nude photos on her page as well, making that £1.5 million payday even more impressive, as she claimed in 2020 that she’d use the money to invest in a production company, fund research for a film, and donate to charity.

The 27-year-old said that she didn’t promise any nudity on her page (Marilla Sicilia/Archivio Marilla Sicilia/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Her membership would be hit with ‘transaction limits’ though, and Baker would later deny that he had any involvement with the actress’ OnlyFans project.

On top of all of this, subscribers claimed they were scammed into believing that she would be nude on the site, mentioning a screenshot where she apparently promised a naked photo for $200. However, Thorne told the publication that she never offered nudity on the page and that the screenshot being mentioned was not real.

The 27-year-old even said that she hoped she could use the page as a place to be ‘more personal’ with fans, sending them personal messages through voice memos.

Her page is currently inactive.

Affleck has three children with fellow actress and ex Jennifer Garner, who you may know from 13 Going on 30, and with many other celebrities shocking fans with their down-to-earth treatment of their kids, the 52-year-old might just have joined the list.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has repeatedly said in the past that his wealth isn’t going to his children when he dies, and that his children don’t fly in first class with him – a rarity considering the privilege a lot of other children in that position get.

But Affleck might not be so different.

Despite being a Hollywood star for the best part of 30 years, his Massachusetts upbringing hasn’t been forgotten.

A video of Affleck and his 13-year-old son, Samuel, at a sneaker convention has gone viral on social media as they browse through some limited edition models.

Speaking on the red carpet at film festival SXSW over the weekend, Affleck revealed his brutal reply when his son asked him for a pair of designer Nike trainers that cost $6,000 (£4,600).

In an attempt to teach him the value of money, he reminded the teen that ‘you’re broke’.

Samuel might be treated to court-side NBA seats, but the line is drawn at designer shoes (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)

Talking to Access Hollywood, the actor recalled the conversation: “He’s like ‘We have the money,’ I’m like, ‘I have the money, you’re broke!’

“That’s what happens when you tell a motherf***er they have to mow a lawn. All of a sudden they don’t want those shoes,” the seasoned actor quipped.]

He explained that ‘there’s always some grift’ when it comes to him buying things for his kids, simply stating that his son did ‘not need thousand dollar shoes.’

The video in question can be seen on the Got Sole Instagram account, where the 13-year-old eyes up some fancy trainers, only for his dad to point out: “That’s a lot of lawns you’ve gotta mow there.

“You just like those because they’re expensive.”

But his son quickly replied: “No they’re tough! I always said they look good.”

The shoes in question were a pair of 2020 limited-edition low-top Dior Air Jordan 1 shows, which was once worth a third of its current price.

It’s worth noting that Affleck understands the value of trainers, being a fan of shoes as well as his son.

Affleck didn’t hold back when asked about his son’s shoe interest (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)

While the Dior Jordans are more or less a collector’s item, Samuel revealed to Get Sole that his father’s choice of trainers were the Nike SB De La Soul.

Users took to the comments section of the interview, posted on YouTube, to praise the film star’s response to his son.

One commented: “He worked what he had. Good for him for not spoiling his kid,” as another wrote: “Self-made millionaires know not to spoil their kids.”

And a third pointed out: “Love this!! Got to teach our kids the values of life.”

Well, a group of astronauts did exactly just that.

Now, before you get too ahead of yourselves, we’re not talking about chucking a camera out the hatch of a spaceship here — although one man did send one into the stratosphere attached to a balloon.

No, for this particular experiment, we’re talking about a group of astronauts who created a floating water bubble and then chucked their GoPro in.

It’s not the most exciting experiment, but it does look pretty cool (YouTube/NASA)

Why I hear you ask? Well, for science, and because why not.

This particular experiment, if you can call it that, took place in 2014 on what must of been a slow day onboard the International Space Station (ISS), with crew members from NASA and the European Space Agency deciding to explore ‘the phenomenon of water surface tension in microgravity’.

Which is just a fancy way of telling your boss you spent the afternoon d**king around with a camera.

In the clip, we see NASA’s Reid Wiseman and Steve Swanson ‘create’ a ball of water, thanks to the weightlessness of the ISS, before pushing the camera in after some trial and error.

The crew then show shots from both inside and outside of the camera bubble as it floats weightlessly around the room without a care in the world. Mission accomplished!

After filming the camera for a few moments, the astronauts then set about removing the camera from the water, something which is much easier said than done.

Without gravity, water in outer space just floats around in a jelly-like sphere until it hits something. Which would be pretty annoying if it collided with your electrics. Although thankfully, this time, Russian engineer Oleg Artemyev was on hand with a towel to clean up any potential mess.

We can only imagine this is the sort of thing stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are filling their hours with until they’re returned to Earth. The joys of zero gravity.

Simultaneously underwater and in space (YouTube/NASA)

Unfortunately, hanging out in space isn’t all fun and games, with the impact of spending an extended period of time in without being anchored down by gravity being something that is pretty taxing on the body.

After completing a mission in the cosmos, NASA revealed that astronauts can lose around ‘1% to 1.5% of mineral density per month during spaceflight’, mineral density from weight bearing bones as well as up to 30% of their muscle mass.

The 2000s were plagued by a war on terrorism from the US government, who looked to destroy terrorist group Al-Qaeda and its founder, bin Laden, at all costs.

The terrorist organisation was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, which claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people and injured thousands more.

On 2 May 2011, a raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan resulted in his discovery and death.

The man who claims to be responsible for the killing is former US Navy SEAL Team 6 member Robert J. O’Neill.

Robert J. O’Neill has spoken extensively about his killing of Bin Laden in the past (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)

Recalling the story of bin Laden’s death on the Shawn Ryan Show, the military expert, who has previously spoken about what he was thinking before pulling the trigger, revealed what happened after he ‘shot him in the face three times’.

O’Neill explained that he then met with the CIA agent responsible for locating the terrorist leader, in what he described as a ‘historic’ moment.

“She gave up her life for this, she doesn’t have a husband, she doesn’t have kids and she’s been working on this 20 hours a day for years,” he said.

O’Neill went on: “But then, as the Arrogant Navy SEAL, I put the pressure on myself, [thinking] I gotta think of something cool to say.”

He revealed: “We’re walking over to the body and I thought this would have been good enough – I looked down and I said, ‘Is that your guy?'”

Quite bada**, but her alleged reply was similar, according to O’Neill, she ‘looked down for a second’ and said: “Ha! I guess I’m out of a f***ing job.”

Host Ryan was in bits, even saying in disbelief: “You gotta be s****ing me!”

After this, O’Neill explained that they had to call the White House and report his death, as well as take photos and carry out some DNA tests.

He then said that they were struggling to work out bin Laden’s height, making their tallest sniper, who was 6’2″ tall, lie down next to the body as a comparison.

O’Neill has spoken about what he experienced in the immediate aftermath of the killing too, saying: “I can hear bin Laden taking his last breath. When I shot him he fell to the foot of the bed.

“I shot him in the face three times. I moved Amal [bin Laden’s wife] and… his two-year-old son is now standing there, and this is the humanity of everything. This kid has got nothing to do with this. I’m a father. I picked him up and I move them to the back of the bed.”

He now sells cannabis to help fellow former soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Lots of us are always keen to secure the latest Apple product but they’re not quite as in demand in the film industry, for one peculiar reason. And in murder mystery or action films where we see a villain, the reality is that you’ll probably never see them using an iPhone.

While Apple products can be used to catch cheating villains in real life, you can also use them to help you identify the mystery killer on your TV screen, thanks to a so-called ‘no villain clause’ reportedly imposed by the tech giants.

Flip phones might hint towards the villain. (Getty Stock Images)

Rumours of the clause first surfaced when American filmmaker Rian Johnson discussed the issue with Vanity Fair in 2020, when talking about his work on the first Knives Out mystery.

He said: “Apple, they let you use iPhones in movies. But – and this is very pivotal – if you’re ever watching a mystery movie, bad guys cannot have iPhones on camera.”

In an August 2024 interview on the podcast Wrap Drinks, prop master Heidi Koleto added fuel to the fire.

Although Jacob was an awful bloke, he isn’t the villain in Knives Out (Lionsgate Films/Screenrant)

She said: “I got a script once where an actress is supposed to be looking at her phone while she’s driving drunk and crashes her car. They wanted to see a text message pop up and I had to be like ‘We can’t do that. We’ve established this character with an Apple phone. We can’t have her driving drunk and crashing while looking at an iPhone, they’ll never work with me again’.”

Apple are yet to confirm or deny the existence of the ‘no villain clause’ but it is confirmed that the tech company can have a say in how it is represented during the production.

Richard Osman has also discussed the clause on The Rest is Entertainment podcast and it’s something he will no doubt have to be aware of, as Netflix prepares to launch The Thursday Murder Club on its platform later this year.

Personally, I think it would it would be incredible viewing to see a film villain taking a sip from the beer app on their classic iPhone while defeating the protagonist but the chances are that won’t happen anytime soon, unless maybe you’re watching a film entirely produced by Samsung.

So, keep a close eye out the next time you’re watching a modern thriller or murder mystery, as the chances are if you see an iPhone being used, you can rule out that character as one of your suspects.